iRunFar: Bryon Powell of iRunFar here with Rory Bosio before the 2015 The North Face 50 miler. How are you?

Rory Bosio: Hi! I’m great! How are you, Bryon?

iRunFar: I don’t know if I ever knew this was your first 50 way back when.

Bosio: Way back… 2008?

iRunFar: 2008 or 2007?

Bosio: It was the first 50-mile race I had ever done. Previously I had just done a 50k. It was also the first time The North Face had ever done this race.

iRunFar: Okay.

Bosio: Things have improved since then. There was a little sabotage that went on the first year, I think. I ended up running in downtown Stinson Beach. “I don’t think I remember seeing that we were supposed to run through town.” So things have improved. Yeah, I find this race tricky time-wise because it’s snowy in my neck of the woods and I’d rather be on skis. However, I do love the Headlands, and it’s just so beautiful.

iRunFar: Is it true that it was maybe your hardest race ever?

Bosio: Yeah, that first 50 annihilated me. I remember my friends and I the next day were doing some shopping down in San Francisco and I was like… I looked like I’d ridden a bull the day before or something and did not stay on for the eight seconds. It was horrendous. Things have gotten better. The first one, I feel like, is the hardest.

iRunFar: Where have you been this year? You have been not here.

Bosio: I’ve been everywhere. I’ve been very fortunate that I had a little project I was working on, and I got to go to Greenland, Chile, Sweden, Scotland, France, Canada, and all over the U.S.—cool places.

iRunFar: Maybe it’s on the web, but is it public what you did?

Bosio: It’s on the dark web. No, it’s all legal. It’s for a TV show. I don’t know if I’m allowed to talk about it yet, but whatever. It’s called “Boundless.” It’s myself and three other crazy guys, and we just went around the world and once a month did an extreme endurance event. Some of them were ultras. We did a 100-mile run in the Atacama Desert in Chile which was phenomenal. Other stuff was like a three-day cross-country ski race in Greenland. There were some really awesome, awesome things.

iRunFar: You do some skiing anyway, but were there any that really challenged you?

Bosio: We did a 90-mile mountain-bike race in France that they purport to be the world’s hardest race. I don’t know who gives out that designation or like if it’s a UN thing, [iRunFar: UNESCO Hardest Mountain Bike Race in the World] but it was near Chamonix. You can imagine the terrain. It’s either straight up or straight down. That was definitely challenging. It’s fun, though to mix it up. I like variety as the spice of life.

iRunFar: Normally this late in the season, a lot of people are at least mentally burned out. Are you here to run?

Bosio: I’m here to run. You want the realistic answer? I’m not in the best shape I’ve ever been in, but that’s okay. I really love the course. I think it’s beautiful. I’m just excited to get out there. You see so many friends and catch up with people. I know, for me, I’m never super competitive at this time of year, but that’s just me. The timing is a little tricky.

Bosio: I’m not supposed to call it “The Elmo,” but it’s really… this thing is amazing. Doesn’t it look touchable? Don’t you just want to touch me? If you were a handsome man who’s single and ready to mingle, wouldn’t you just want to touch me?

iRunFar: The Deuce. Well, have you actually done some training for this? You may not be in the best of shape, but…

Bosio: I did some training for this. I crewed a friend of mine at World’s Toughest Mudder a few weeks ago. That required a lot of running. I was like, “Okay, I feel good doing this. Hopefully I’ll feel good during the race.” I don’t know. You never know. I’m definitely not in top form, but I like to go out and grin and bear it. I’m ready to punish myself for all the sins I’ve done this past year. Penance. Penance on the trail.